The topic of the research is the ethics of a professional expert. The context of the research is the education in Finnish polytechnics, therefore the professional expert is a student who graduates from the polytechnic. Aristotelian virtue ethics is the moral philosophical framework of the study. The basic elements of virtue ethics are the universal aim of human life (eudaimonia), the parallelism of the aims of an individual and the community, and wisdom as practical reason (fronesis) which causes the understanding of the right means to achieving a good life. From this perspective the ethics of an expert is analyzed at individual and community levels in working life.The data of the research consists of two different groups of texts. The first group consists of three publications which have been published in the first years of the Finnish polytechnic reform (Ekola 1992, Lampinen 1995, Helakorpi & Olkinuora1997). These publications represent the official viewpoint of the topic. The second part of the data includes fifteen interviews of polytechnic students. The students are finishing their studies in the fields of technology, horticulture and design.The texts and the interviews have been analyzed using the deconstructive method of reading.Two dissimilar profiles of a virtuous expert have been constructed on the basis of the analysis. According to the official, normative texts the virtues of an expert are: the ability to change, theoretical-practical knowledge, inherent re-making, adaptability, detachment and adapted globalization.According to the students´ interviews the virtues of an expert are: the desire to become a better person, individual coping, to do one’s best for the customer, maintaining things as they are, an attachment to intimate persons and determinate communality.The character of education appears in the official text as consultative teaching. However, in the interviews the students appear to expect personal meetings with teachers and time for joint discussions with them.In comparison with the basis of the virtue ethics neither of the profiles fulfil the conditions of virtue ethics. The virtues which are revealed in the normative texts describe close connections with the enterprises which means that the main targets of polytechnic education are to fulfil the demands of the work organizations. On the other hand, the virtues which became evident in the students´ interviews emphasize individual and egoistic targets and means in their personal lives.